August 2005
  
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Multihop Wireless Mesh Networks for Building Automation

Alexandre Cervinka


Alexandre Cervinka
CEO, Founder
Newtrax Technologies

Wireless is now a strong option for the connection of automation networks in buildings. Benefits of low power multihop wireless mesh networking include:

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The first standard in the emerging technology standard of multihop wireless mesh networking is Zigbee/802.15.4. Limitations of this standard include short range, sub-optimal interference protection, vulnerability to multipath inter-symbol interference and limited scalability in shared airspace.

Newtrax Technologies Inc. has developed a new multihop wireless mesh networking protocol based on low data rate Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS), which offers a superior range/power ratio, more robust RF links and better scalability than Zigbee/802.15.4 The tradeoff is lower throughput and more latency.

Figure A illustrates a wireless multihop mesh topology with several wireless nodes (WN) and one wireless gateway (WG).

Figure A – Multihop wireless mesh network connected to the Internet

Figure A – Multihop wireless mesh network connected to the Internet

Technical requirements in commercial and industrial buildings are:

Newtrax Technologies has developed an innovative multihop wireless mesh networking technology particularly suited for the above mentioned technical requirements. Table A summarizes the differentiation with other common technologies.

  NewtraxTM ZigbeeTM BluetoothTM Wi-FiTM

Data rate (Mbps)

0.04

0.25

1.00

11.0

Battery life

Years

Years

Days

Hours

Omni-directional low-power range

Up to 500m

Up to 30m

Up to 10m

Up to 100m

Multihop mesh networking

Yes

Yes

No

No

Scalable to thousands of nodes

Yes

Yes

No

No

Multipath tolerance

High

Low

Medium

Low

Interference immunity

High

Low

Medium

Low

Target application

Long-range and robust networks of sensors and actuators

Short-range and high-speed networks of sensors and actuators

WPAN for peripherals

High-speed WLAN for PCs

Table A – Comparison of Newtrax communication technology with other common technologies

contemporary Newtrax Technologies Inc. offers a flexible OEM technology platform to build intelligent wireless sensor and actuator systems:

WN-100 Wireless Node OEM module:

WG-100 Wireless Gateway OEM software:

The company is currently seeking early adopter customers to participate in beta tests and to co-develop end-user solutions.


About the Author

Alexandre Cervinka is the CEO and Founder of Newtrax Technologies. He is a graduate of McGill University and holds a degree in electrical engineering. The Newtrax team of 7 engineers and scientists conducted extensive field-testing of RF propagation in high-attenuation, high-interference and high-multipath environments, and then built from the ground up a low power multihop wireless mesh network communication protocol tailored for harsh environments.

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